BS: help: Terry Pratchett books

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Helen
Date: 07 Jan 17 - 05:28 PM

Hi,

I've read a lot of TP's books and still love them. Now that he has kicked the proverbial bucket his books are "collector's items" and cost a packet so I would recommend buying them and re-selling them to the highest bidder, rather than donating them to a charity shop, unless you auction them off and donate the profits to the charity shop.

I have no intention of selling our collection, which takes up over two shelves of a rather large bookcase. Hubby and I both love his books, his twisted/warped view of the (Disc)world, and all the characters and plots he has invented.

As to which order to read the books, apart from starting with the first Discworld book to get a fix on the quirky world the books are set in, most of them can be read in any sequence at all. There are plenty of websites with info on who's who and what's what in Discworld, so if there is something about a character that you need to know, you can look it up.

For eggsample, the character of Death may be a bit confusing if you pick up a later book, but as soon as you "get" what he is about, he becomes one of the funniest & cleverest characters of all, IMHO, although I also love The Luggage, which unfortunately only appeared in a couple of early books.

I discovered TP's books when I worked in a library, and having the power to order books, I ordered every new title which came out. I also saw an old school friend sometime around that period and raved to her about the books. About a decade later I saw her and she introduced me to her teenage daughter by saying, this is the person who told me about Terry Pratchett's books and her daughter's face lit up like a sunbeam. If you do one good deed in your life and get a smile like that, it makes it all worth while. :-)

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Helen
Date: 07 Jan 17 - 05:37 PM

I just did a bit of a Google for TP's bibliography and also found this:

Reading order

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Jan 17 - 05:40 PM

The Late Lamented Luggage has a few cameo spots.

I noticed The Luggage in Unseen Academicals, which was relatively recent. A very brief thing though. As you will recall, Unseen Academicals features football amongst other things. Somebody got the bright idea that The Luggage, with all them feets, might be useful on the football field. That lasted as long as it took for somebody to upend The Luggage, on the grass with all them feets in the air. Bye Bye Luggage.

And then there was The Last Hero, in which Rincewind plays a fairly prominent role, probably one of Rincewind's later appearances. The Luggage followed Rincewind onto the spaceship, and into the cabin, but that I believe was the extent of The Luggage's contribution.

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Jan 17 - 05:59 PM

re: The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner.

It is reported in an online review that the short stories in this book include a precursor to Truckers. (Bromeliad?)

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Jan 17 - 07:47 PM

The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner had passed me by - as I'm heading to the library soon I'll see it if's in the branch I'm visiting.

Shock, Horror, my library (one of the state's largest library systems) does not have it! So I asked them to buy it.

sandra (shaking head in amazement they don't have it! tho maybe they have it on order, but it was published way back in Sept, surely enough time to get onto their shelves, sigh.)

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Jan 17 - 03:50 AM

Just started reading 'The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner' before reading it to my Grandsons. It is very good :-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: keberoxu
Date: 08 Jan 17 - 12:28 PM

I just read "Good Omens," the collaboration with Neil Gaiman. Parts of that were boring and I flipped the pages and skimmed the paragraphs in self-defense; but overall I was entertained, and am keeping the book on my shelf for the present.

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 08 Jan 17 - 01:00 PM

The first Discworld book I read was the second one, but after that (and reading the first one) I managed to read them in chronological order.... I recorded the film of Going Postal on Pick last week and really enjoyed it, apart from feeling a bit teary when Terry Pratchett appeared in his cameo role as the postman at the end.....

Kitty

(accidentally went into Caps lock when typing this and thought of Death, as you would)

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Jan 17 - 12:34 PM

I have looked at some of his five-book series collaboration called The Long Earth and so on. The conclusion, The Long Cosmos, was released within the last year. It's actually quite good, you do keep in mind that it is not one hundred per cent Pratchett and weight it accordingly. Of course it is helpful if you have some background from the previous entries in the series. I have not read all four of the previous books myself, but I did look at maybe three of them.

Readers expressed frustration with some of the earlier books, and it seems to me that much of this is due to the fact that you don't see how this is going to play out in the end. But I found The Long Cosmos very satisfying in this respect, and the final image is as uplifting as it is haunting. Not for everybody, but I recommend it to those with the time and the -- erm -- what's the noun for "intrepid"?

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 06:02 AM

what's the noun for "intrepid"?

I would suggest the good northern English word 'nouse'. Meaning something like common sense combined with get up and go.

Usage "He'll never do that. He's not got the nouse" or "That lass'll go far. She's got some nouse."

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 17 - 12:13 PM

Thank you, Helen, for posting that reading order list. I've meant to pick up his books for years, but I do like to start at the beginning when reading series.

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 11 Jan 17 - 04:52 AM

I would suggest the good northern English word 'nouse'. Meaning something like common sense combined with get up and go.
Good 'northern English word' that. Spelt without the final 'e' it has much the same meaning in the rest of the country as well.

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 11 Jan 17 - 04:56 AM

Well I never! Mudcat is a wonderful learning experience :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Jan 17 - 12:10 PM

....I love you guys....